With a mix of design, art, and pop culture, Catherine Johnson and Rebecca Rudolph’s company Design, Bitches is on a mission to make architecture significant in daily life. The Los Angeles duo founded their company in 2010 and has since been working on projects  that scale from brand identities to ground-up residential and cultural buildings. We sat down with the two creatives to learn about their work and life.

Rebecca and Cathy, do you remember when you realized for the first time that you had some skills that you could use professionally to do what you’re doing today?

Cathy: It’s an interesting question. When I was a child, I had a friend whose mother was obsessed with seeing houses for sale and we would always tour houses with her. And my brain really holds on to visual memories. I could always remember everything about the house. And I could always easily lock in the volume of the house and the layout of the house. I think that was probably the first time I thought, “Oh, somehow my brain works and sees things this way.” That’s obviously very helpful when being an architect.

Rebecca: I was thinking about this earlier today. It has been a natural evolution process. You know, I think I probably had the interest and the desire to do architecture and design from an early age, but I wouldn’t say that I had any of the skills until when I went to architectural school and learned about designing and working together in teams. Learning how to listen and how to talk about ideas.

And business wise, also learning as you go, I guess?

Rebecca: Definitely. When we started working, it really was about gaining all the skills required. Operating a business, dealing with clients, and working with teams and contractors. It’s necessary to putting a building together. So, it’s a developing process of learning skills as you go.

How closely attached to your local area is Design, Bitches? Would you be able to move your company to anywhere in the world?

Rebecca: I think we could. It is a question we often get: How the work would look like if it were somewhere else. I don’t know the answer because I think right now for sure, we get a lot of inspiration from Los Angeles and Cathy and I are both California natives. So that is certainly an element to our lifestyle here in California and the environment. The light, the colors, the nature. And the scale of construction. If we were somewhere else our collaboration would still be key, but it is hard to say what it would look like.

Cathy: For me, even if I can’t quite imagine what it would be like, the answer is yes, absolutely, it could be anywhere in the world. I even can imagine me being in Singapore and Rebecca in Finland or something, and then be excited about how local influences would come together. That would be super cool.

Rebecca: Yeah, we often say “hey, I saw this thing”, so if we were somewhere else, we would get much more inspired from other environments.

How much does client relations impact your gratitude towards work?

Rebecca: It’s probably one of the most important things about our business – having the right clients. The satisfaction that we get out of work and the success of our work and the results are really all resulting from collaboration with clients. It’s about sharing visions with your clients. Also for Cathy and I, connections to other people are really important for us and our work. Having clients that we really feel connected too is major.

Is having a good relationship to your clients more important than to maximize the number of clients in your company?

Rebecca: We do a pretty good job of vetting potential clients, and determining what’s a good fit. We really try to only to go forward with work where the clients are a good fit. We don’t take every job that comes in our way, because if it’s not a good fit then it’s not gonna be a successful one. It’s just gonna be painful for everyone involved.

Describe a typical workday for me.

Cathy: A least a couple of days out of the week I’m outside in the field on a job sight or a construction sight. Spending a few hours talking about how things is going in details. Basically just talking to people. I can also be working from home or talking with Rebecca. We are on the phone at least once or twice a day.

When I’m at the office I design or spend time with our team. It could be doing the big thinking or initial designing, and then creating the more detailed drawings that someone is gonna build. And the last thing is overseeing the actual construction. So, we are often bouncing between these three stages on any given day. Rebecca and I are also looking at financial things and other aspects of running the business. We do most of it ourselves.

Sounds busy?

Cathy: It’s busy, yeah. Luckily, I have a dog that forces me to take walks outside. Rebecca and I often go to lunch together and talk business, but it’s also nice just to be together outside of the office and talk about life.

How do you unwind?

Cathy: Exercise is a key to me. I realize how important it is to me to have some time where I can just focus on my body moving. Both of us really love the outdoors and nature, so when possible we get out to the beach or get up to the mountains or do something outside. Spending times with friends and family is also a key.

Rebecca: Same here I would say. Yoga is doing it for me. Meeting up with friends, eating, having a drink. And I’ve got two kids, who are approaching teenagers so hanging out with my kids is another way to unwind.

How do you invest in yourself to be not only a better company but also better people?

Rebecca: Good question. Lots of time spent thinking. We just did a work retreat where we all took some time away outside the office to connect and learn about ourselves. We visited some art installations out in the desert and explored a different environment. It’s something that we try to do and should do more often.

Cathy: On a small every day level, I think about taking care of myself. Physically, mentally, a little bit each day makes you a better person. And makes your relationships stronger around you. Traveling makes you a better person in many ways. To go to different countries and just seeing something outside your normal level is good for all of us.

In terms of work, what’s the most important thing you know about yourself?

Rebecca: I need to be interested in what I’m doing to be good at my job. I know I can’t do a job that isn’t exciting and interesting.

Cathy: I think that I’m a good connecter. Connections is important to me. I think that bringing people together or connecting my team is important. And revive those connections when we have lost our way. I think it makes my work more valuable for me. Being able to find ways to re-excite and reconnect to it.

Rebecca: We are both a design-focused and human-focused architecture firm.